drum pedal - weight, resistence, realism.

[parastroke7]

*and now, the moment you've all been waiting for...another unanswerable question by none other than Cory!*

Alright. So this is about the drum pedal. I'm a little worried to say the least, and this isn't the ol' rockin' chair kind of worrying. This is worrying, within reason, with reasons.

I played on a cheap midi drum kit one time at a friend's house. The pads were nice and sturdy, had decent (for the price) stick rebound, but then there was pedal.

Imagine, if you will, a pedal made of pseudo-cheap clacky plastic, supported by a spring (very wimpy spring at that) as its only weight/rebound. It was like putting a sheet of paper on top of a clothes pin, and naming it "bass pedal". Unresponsive, plays when it wants to (since it has NO clue when the hell you're really hitting, and how hard you're hitting), and isn't "person who wants to play a phat beat" friendly.

Now...we move on to the Rock Band drum peripheral. Nice sturdy pads, can take a beating, decent stick rebound...and then there's that pedal. There he sits, down there, all lonely. Nobody EVER talks about him, or has really supressed their A.D.D. long enough to develop a solid opinion about him. They just stomp on him with the utmost intensity like a fat lady to a mouse.

A real bass drum pedal has certain qualities that make it operable. You can't just throw a bunch of stuff together, as it takes careful tuning to make it work just the way you need it to in order to land hits with perfect timing. The three big ones are weight, resistance, and rebound. Does the Rock Band pedal have this?

Ask yourself...."self, does the Rock Band pedal have this sh%t?"

1. When pressing down, it takes a little bit of force to make it hit. It's not just an empty clack of plastic against plastic, against metal, against some more plastic.

2. When the bass drum pedal is let loose, does it wobble like a real bass pedal? OR...does the bass drum pedal come straight back up into its home position without even the slightest wobble?

3. For those of you who have sat down in front of a real drum set, did Harmonix really try that hard to emulate a real bass pedal, or did they just make it to where "it pushes down"?



If you cannot answer any of these questions, then do me one small favor. Reply to this thread with a little-known fact about yourself. If I can't get good answers, then I'd at least like to learn something about my fellow members of the forum, like interesting background info or something even farther away from the answer I desire. Just as long as the thread is not a complete waste.

DISCLAIMER: I am not stoned, or drunk, or strunked, or bored. Inquisitive? YES.

[HellishFiend]

I also have these concerns. I am no drummer but I think the mechanics of how a real bass pedal works are poetry in motion and perfectly facilitate the way it is meant to be used. The "bouncy" rebound effect the pedal has when its released has a strange way of making you feel like its really "connected" rather than just a "button that you push with your foot" type feel. It's gonna be disappointing if the rock band bass pedal has a button type feel, but we can always hope for aftermarket bass pedal replacements for it.

[ZkDotNet]

I'm not a drummer, so have no experience to answer your questions directly. I will touch on one point. The "spring" in the pedal is not weak. If you don't know how to play the bass pedal (IE, try to do a full press every time), you *will* wear out your legs. Much like a real bass, you'll want to keep the pedal depressed until right before the hit (then, quick lift and hit).

[deepbluevibes]

Actually, a better question that might provide a bit more clarity;

For those of you who've used the bass pedal, AND have played on both a real drumset AND drummania;

Which is the bass pedal more similar to?

A real drumset, or Drummania's bass pedal?

For reference, a real drumset takes much more leg power to use, whereas Drummania's bass pedal takes far less power, but it's also much more sensitive (registers a hit even on a light tap) when compared to a real drumset, which needs a full, powerful hit to work on most drumsets.

[JohnDubbyaRocks]

Lets use common sense here it wont take much to activate the bass drum. I have size 16 feet and I even know to be gentle.

[SmokaCola]

Lets use common sense here it wont take much to activate the bass drum. I have size 16 feet and I even know to be gentle.


And I thought I was the **** for having size 12s...

[raregamer]

I been wondering for so long to know about these exact things you mention in the topic, but been lazy about asking about it. So I hope someone can answer this.

[sharky10c]

If you go to the game info tab on rockband.com , and then click the intruments videos and then, select the drum video, it tells about the pedal I think

[MdubMedia]

Looking foward to an answer...

[blgage]

I play drums, I really hope the pedal is realistic, not like the pedal on the 360 wheel. My favorite food is octopus.

[MasterTick]

You have nothing to worry about, the pedal feels nice and sturdy and provides a decent rebound after it's pressed.

[Edgehopper]

I haven't played on a real drum set, but I have played on the retail Rock Band drum set (with a pedal).

1. Yes. That spring is strong. You can rest your foot on the elevated pedal without depressing it accidentally

2. Not sure what you mean.

3. From the few times I sat down at a drumset and hit a bass pedal, the Rock Band pedal feels right. Remember, it is a company of musicians, with a former drummer for a CEO :)

[Chthonic]

Well, the people best suited to answering your question(s) are the ones who already have the game (lucky SOBs..).

But they're not here right now, because they're, well... busy playing Rock Band. :/

[Tarzanman]

The Good news is: I JUST GOT DONE PLAYING DRUMS ON THE FULL VERSION OF ROCK BAND (The Rock Band Tour bus is here in Atlanta this weekend).

The bad news is: In real life, I'm a bassist, not a drummer :rolleyes: ... so read what I have written here with that in mind.

I have played around on an electric drum set before though. Here are my thoughts on the kick pedal:

Not bad. Its not perfect... but they could certainly have done worse. I played 'Say It aint so' on hard, 'Vasoline' on medium, and 'Wanted Dead or Alive' on hard (about an hour ago).

The pedal *almost* gives enough resistance to rest your foot on it, but not quite. I imagine that kids (or anyone in moderate physical shape) under 5'1" or so will be able to rest their foot on it.

I did try the trick of sliding my foot back on it a little bit so that I could rest my foot on it, but as you can imagine I ended up having to shift my foot all the way back on it during the bass drum notes to get decent timing/response from the game (the same way that you would have to for a real kick).

In my opinion, this pedal will teach you to *not* leave your foot all the way on the pedal unless you are about to play the bass drum (which is proper technique I think?). Doing anything else will over-work your shin muscles after about 2-3 songs (which is what prompted me to switch to that style of play).

The sticks are rather light, but this is a good thing since the pads are (in my opinion) a teensy bit towards the dead side... but that may have been because the ones I was using have been repeatedly beat upon by hundreds of people over the course of the past few weeks.

As a bass player & non-drummer... I have to say that I understand a little bit about rythmn but drumming was still a bit of an eye-opening experience for me. Being a (albeit crappy) musician, I was a little bit better/faster at picking up the drums than the other folks who were there (which is how I became the drummer for two 'bands' on the tour, lol). The freedom of setting the rythmn is both liberating and stressful. You get to lay down the beat, but if/when you screw up it is more distubring (in my opinion) than if the guitars or singers mess up.

Even so, drums are ***definitely*** the most fun instrument in Rock Band... especially in free form fill mode. I've been there and done that with guitar & bass on GH.... drums are my new love (wish I had room for a set where I live).

I did get to sit an watch two other guys who knew what they were doing play on hard (looked like hard). Knowing the rhythm/drum beat to a song ahead of time goes a LONG WAY to making drumming easier (even more so than on guitar).

I think real drummers will find this game to be noticeably closer to what they do in real life than the guitars. Make sure you have a decent throne.

[Eastwood]

IGN stated that they broke a demo pedal... I hope they made it sturdier since then.

[Tarzanman]

Oh yeah, here is a copy of the swag I got for playing. A hat, shirt, and rock band drum sticks.... the guitar center sticks are sticks I already had

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c121/Tzanman/Rockband.jpg

[McDeezy]

I've used the bass pedal and this was one thing I was worried about. The bass pedal feels great but I wish it had more resistance.

[acetabulum]

You have nothing to worry about, the pedal feels nice and sturdy and provides a decent rebound after it's pressed.

I agree. I played it on several occasions (las vegas tour stop, and at a local best buy) and it's my only real non-complaint. I hate everything about the guitar and I still dislike the 4 pad arrangement, but oh well, you can't win 'em all.

[parastroke7]

I sure hope I can use it. If I can't, I'll have to rig up something with a bass drum practice pad and a real bass pedal. Afro Engineering, much?

[Tarzanman]

You will be able to use it.... the question is how tired will your shin get while using it. The rebound and feel when it plays are fine.... its getting to it (whether you can rest your foot on it or not) that will require you to formulate a strategy/play style

[parastroke7]

I've been drumming for 7 years. If anything can make my shin tired, it's not a fake drum pedal.

[Tarzanman]

Well, how would you deal with a kick with a weak spring?

Most of us aren't drummers.....share that wisdom, cuz

[Aggressive_Perfector]

They should have made the pedal resistance adjustable. Did they? If they didn't it wouldn't be that expensive of an idea for future releases.

I have an Iron Cobra double bass pedal sitting right here and the springs are adjustable on it.

[Tarzanman]

It isn't adjustable from what I could tell.

[mattitude]

I can comfortably bend my right thumb completely behind the knuckle of my right index finger. It looks grotesque.

Anyway, sorry I can't help with your questions; I don't have the game yet.

[Catalytic]

I can comfortably bend my right thumb completely behind the knuckle of my right index finger. It looks grotesque.

Anyway, sorry I can't help with your questions; I don't have the game yet.

That was completely random.

[mattitude]

That was completely random.

Believe it or not, it wasn't. He asked for a little known fact about us if we couldn't answer his questions. Hence, my post.

[Sentouki]

I used the pedal today and I have no drum experience but it didnt seem "super cheap" or anything. Registered fine and you can slide it on the bottom of the drum stand so its on the left or rightish side. I dont know if you can lock it down but it is on the stand so it doesnt move backwards or forward unless you pick it up (I assume). Other than that my shin was getting tired from playing lol, but you can rest your foot on it as it only registers when its full pressed.

I wish I could explain what it is like better.

P.S. Didnt seem resistance or height adjustable

[parastroke7]

Has anyone played a drumscape machine before? It's an arcade drum simulator made by MTV. It's strewn about in random places...kinda like health stations in Half-Life 2. I encountered two in my life, and both were at theme parks. So...if anyone's played on one of these before, is the bass pedal in any way comparable to this?

I remember the Drumscape pedal was kinda nice. Very authentic.

[parastroke7]

Oh, and back when I skateboarded, the cleanest most beautiful heelflip I ever landed was over a pile of horse dung.

Ironic. Perhaps the dung provided some incentive to land it correctly? That's my little known fact.

[gozeera]

Well, I haven't played the drums yet, but I will give an interesting factoid about myself:

In 1996 I was a coal miner in the horrible Steven Segal box-office flop "Fire Down Below".